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Sunday, 24 May 2015

OBESE - KALI YUGA (Album Review)

Album
Type:
Album

Date
Released:
June 01st
2015

Label:Argonauta
Records

Kali
Yuga - Track Listing:

01 - Enion

02 - Rite Of Fire

03 - Kali Yuga

04 - The Bitter
Blast

05 - Red As The Sun

06 - Steamroller

07 - Down The
Gauntlet

08 - Bow

09 - Begetter Dead
Letter

Bio:

OBESE hail from
Holland, they are authors of a crunchy, catchy, powerful and above
all heavy as hell sound! Bringing the groove back into stoner and
feeding your appetite with fat tunes that will leave you hungry for
more. The weight and thickness of sound is being explored one track
at a time: corpulency never felt that good. The immense riffage in a
vast landscape of bulldozing euphony will leave nobody unsatisfied.

Review:

Sometimes
a band gets locked into a certain sound or feel for an album. Obese
is not this band. This four-piece from The Netherlands has released a
heavy sonic maze that weaves and wanders through tones, tempos, and
vocals. Trying to guess the feel of the next song is not worth the
time. This album, Kali Yuga, has break-apart fuzz for the sludge
heads and driving blues riffs for the fans of classic stoner jams.

The
first track “Enion” starts with a punch to the chest from what
may be the heaviest vocals I have heard from modern heavy bands.
Combined with heavy toms and blasts of fuzz from the guitars, you get
a feel of what this band is offering up. The riffs that develop at
the end of this track show that Obese has some chops and can use
them.

“Rite
Of Fire” throws the first of many change-ups on this album. For
fans of more modern stoner vibes, this track has a bit more of a
modern feel. The track has a quicker tempo with all the heavy guitar
tones you would expect from the opening track. I began to see some a
glimpse of influence from some of the classic desert bands (Kyuss,
early Fu Manchu). The title track, “Kali Yuga” and “The Bitter
Blast” gave proof that the early stoner/desert bands played a
part in Obese’s sound. “Red As The Sun” is one of the tracks on
this album that stood out. It has all the parts of a song that got me
excited to hear new bands. The riff on track opens with is as heavy
and fuzzed-out groove as I have heard in a long time. The song
transforms with some heavy drums in the middle and comes right back
to that sweet riff.

The
final tracks on the album, “Steamroller”, “Down The Gauntlet”,
and “Bow”, have a heavier and more classic sludge vibe but stills
show a bit more of a swampy blues feel with some touches of
prog-rock. The final track, “Begetter Dead Letter,” threw the
final change-up with a sludge jam that wrapped this album up the way
it began by leaving you guessing. The track is unapologetic and dark
in its guitar tone and rhythm section with a nod to some Pink Floyd
and Black Sabbath.

Kali
Yuga showcases Obese’s ability to take multiple influences and use
it to create a flowing, calculated record. Some bands tend to try
this but usually end up with weaker tracks taking a back seat to the
stronger ones. Kali Yuga delivers on each track and still maintains
strength in each song’s individualism. I am definitely looking
forward to seeing them live and hope they can capture the album’s
strength on stage.

Words
by Rick Fogarty

Thanks
To Barbara at NeeCee Agency and Gero at Argonauta Records for promo.
Kali Yuga will be available to buy from June 1st 2015.

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